Apple sized fruit with white or yellow creamy, custardy pulp that has an excellent sweet banana flavor. White sapote's are well known throughout much of Central America and Mexico.

Description: A medium to large tree which can grow up to 50+ feet high. The small flowers are formed in large groups and may occur off and on a few times per year, with fruit ripening 6-8 months later. There are green skinned varieties, yellow skinned varieties, and many in between. Pick fruits as they begin to soften, but do not wait too long as fallen fruits tend to smash when they drop due to their soft flesh. Mature trees can produce hundreds of pounds of fruit every year.

Hardiness: The white sapote is subtropical to tropical, surviving temperatures to 22F for short periods of time.

Growing Environment: White Sapote's prefer a climate with moderate humidity, though trees have performed well in high-humidity area such as Hawaii. It colder areas, white sapotes do well in sunny locations, it warmer areas shade may be provided. Water often, although trees can withstand short periods of drought. White sapote's have large tap root systems that require deep soil. Only trees with trimmed roots (or cuttings) can be container grown.

Propagation: Better varieties are usually propagated by grafting or budding, which produce fruit in 3-4 years. Seedling trees produce in 6-8 years.

Uses: Fruits are excellent when eaten ripe. Unripe fruits have a bitter taste, and flesh very near the skin can sometimes have a bitter taste. Usually the flesh is scooped out with a spoon and eaten raw.

Native Range: Native to the highlands of Central Mexico. Grown commercially in Mexico, parts of Central America, and occasionally California. [link to www.tradewindsfruit.com]

A soft edible fruit, sapodilla is native to Central America and the northern parts of South America There are many different species of fruit sapote and most of these belong to the family Sapotaceae and Ebenaceae. These fruits are highly nutritious and should therefore make use of sapodilla fruit recipes, like salads, desserts, smoothies, etc. Sapote is also an important member in the list of fruits. Let us understand more about sapotes through the following paragraphs.

Facts about Sapotes

The newly sapotes served are the best to eat. A cut sapote cold and fresh for a wedge is used to serve. Many people find the taste of sapotes similar to caramel. Because of the different varieties and types of sapotes, taste and skin color vary greatly. Let us understand more about these differences through information presented below.

White Sapote Fruit

This fruit belongs to the type called drupes. Sapotes whites belong to the family Rutaceae and the botanical name is Casimiroa edulis. The drupe has a fleshy outer part that surrounds a hard shell. Development of these fruits take place from a single carpel. The diameter of the white sapotes is 5-10 cm. Your skin becomes red upon maturity of its initial yellow, the skin is not edible and very thin. The fleshy pulp of the fruit is edible. Like the pulp is different for different varieties. The sapote fruit flavors could be a banana, vanilla flan, pear, etc. flesh color also changes with different varieties. The yellow varieties of skin sapotes has a beige-yellow pulp, while the fruit with a green skin has creamy white flesh. The number of seeds contained in fruit varies from 1-5.

Black Sapote Fruit

The black sapote, which has a botanical name, Diospyros dignya belongs to the family Ebenaceae. This plant is native to Central America and neighboring regions. Alternative names for black sapote are Zapote Prieto (Spanish) Fruit and Chocolate Pudding. Fruit size ranges from 5-10 cm and its shape resembles that of tomato. Black skin of sapodilla, like other sapotes is not edible. The skin changes color from olive-green to yellow as the fruit ripens. Flesh color also changes from white to a shade of chocolate pudding. Fruit flavor is also similar to chocolate pudding.

Sapote Fruit Nutrition

The sapote fruit is rich in nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins. The minerals contained in this fruit include sodium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron. Vitamins found in sapotes include thiamin, niacin, riboflavin and folic acid. Vitamins present in sapotes play an important role in various metabolic processes of the body. It is a fruit high in fiber. Dietary fiber present in sapotes are good for the digestive system. This fruit is therefore considered as one of the best laxatives. Fiber in sapotes serve the purpose of protecting colon cancer causing toxins and maintaining the problem of constipation in check. Phenolic compounds such as poly-tannin possess antioxidant and is therefore important from the point of controlling parasites and bacteria. This fruit is also known for its anti-hemorrhoidal, hemostatic and anti-diarrheal. Once the fruit contains vitamin A, prevention of oral cancers and lung is possible with regular ingestion. A folder sapotes is used in the treatment of bites and stings poisonous creatures.

Sapote Fruit Tree

Sapote The plants grow well in hot tropical regions. The soil in which the flower sapotes includes clay and clay loam. However, it has been observed that there is any problem in the growth of sapotes in porous soils and sterile. The seeds are used for the propagation of sapotes. Once the seeds lose their viability quickly, it is advisable to plant / sow the seeds as soon as possible. A 9 m spacing between two plants sapotes is considered ideal.

Facts about Sapote fruit presented in this article include descriptions of different types and varieties. These fruits are highly nutritious and should therefore be included in the regular diet.

Health Benefits of Eating ZapoteZapote is an excellent source of nutrients such as potassium, iron, copper, niacin, folate and pantothenic acid that are important for health living because they involve in different metabolic processes in our body as cofactors to the enzymes.

In addition to the nutrient health benefits, zapote has great quantities of antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin A and C. Vitamin A is important for eyesight and for keeping healthy skin and mucus membranes. Frequent consumption of organic fruits that are abundant with vitamin A protect our body from oral cavity and lung cancers. Vitamin C is useful for our body to combat contagious disease and it behaves like a scavenger for damaging free radicals.

Zapote fruit has a great volume of dietary fiber, rendering it a superb bulk laxative. The dietary fiber content helps relieve constipation and shields the mucus membrane of the intestinal tract from cancer causing toxic compounds by strongly binding to them.

The zapote is full of antioxidant poly-phenolic compound, which is antibacterial, antiviral and anti-parasitic. In addition, it contains many medicinal properties including hemostatic, anti-hemorrhoidal and anti-diarrheal remedies.

An extract of the crushed Zapote seeds is utilized in Yucatan to be a soporific and sedative.

The paste from the seeds is put on stings and bites by venomous creatures. Zapote Calories and Nutritional Value

About the Tropical Fruit Casimiroa: Its Nutrition and Medicinal Benefits

Peter Bilton

Casimiroa or white sapote is a delicate, sweet tasting fruit that&#146;s native to Central America. The fruit was cherished by the Aztecs for its medicinal properties. Now researchers are discovering why casimiroa fruit can help prevent chronic diseases such as colon cancer.

The tropical fruit Casimiroa edulis is also known as white sapote or chapota. It is native to the highlands of Central Mexico, where it grows naturally in woodlands. Often casimiroa trees are found near coffee plantations where they provide shade. The fruit is commercially grown throughout Central America, the Caribbean, parts of New Zealand and South Africa. Casimiroa was introduced to California by Franciscan monks around 1810. In the USA casimiroa trees are grown mostly as ornamentals. Casimiroa fruit is not exported because it is highly perishable, having a short shelf life after ripening.

The fruit is about the size of an orange, but its shape is similar to a mango. The color of casimiroa varies from green to canary yellow, depending upon its variety, of which there are many strains. The fruits flesh is yellow or white with a texture similar to a combination of custard apple and pear. The taste of casimiroa could be described as mild and sweet with a hint of mango or peach and sometimes almond.

Casimiroa has a long history and was well known to the Aztec and Maya civilizations of Mexico. Mexicans named the fruit zapote or sapote, meaning soft fruit. This has led to some confusion between other fruits native to Central America known as sapote. The Aztecs named the fruit cochizapotl, which means sleeping fruit in the Nahuatl dialect. The name casimiroa was given to the genus in honor of the Spanish botanist Casimiroa Gomaz de Ortega.

Casimoroa and Traditional Medicine: casimiroa fruit is possibly better known for its medicinal effects. The Aztecs made tea to extract the essence from the leaves, bark and seeds of the fruit. The tea was taken as a sedative to induce sleep and as a narcotic.

In 1893 the Mexican doctor, Jesus Sanchez identified the narcotic effects of casimiroa as casimirin, a type of alkaloid, glycoside. The glucoside casimirosine, also present in the fruit, has the effect of lowering blood pressure and relieving rheumatic pain. In Mexico the seeds of casimiroa fruit are crushed and used to treat sores and in Costa Rica a decoction of the leaves is prepared for the treatment of diabetes.

Casimiroa fruit also contains coumarine. Coumarines are chemicals known as phenylpropanoids found in plants. They are used in the pharmaceutical industry as an edema modifier and for the treatment of lymphedema (elephantiasis).

Casimiroa and its Nutrition: fruits of the casimiroa edulis species are rich in vitamins C and A. They have a high sugar content, about 27%. However, they are low in calories.

Casimiroa edulis belongs to the Rutaceae family of plants, commonly known as citrus. As such it contains Limonoids. Limonoids are phytochemicals, found mostly in citrus peel. Research suggest that Limonoids are antifungal, antiviral, antineoplastic, antibacterial and antimalarial. Eating foods rich in Limonoids provides antioxidant activity which trigger detoxification enzymes in the liver. Casimiroa also contains the phytochemical known as Zapotin. Studies show that Zapotin has powerful anticancerous activity and in particular helps prevent colon cancer. [link to food-nutrition.knoji.com]

How to Make?•Combine sugar and water in a large pan and boil over high heat. Boil the mixture until it gets reduced to ½ cup. Cover the mixture and refrigerate until ready to use.•Cut sapotes in half. Take a blender, whirl sapote pulp and lemon juice until pureed.•Mix syrup and fruit puree. Cover and freeze for 1 hour. Break frozen puree into small pieces.•Wrap airtight and freeze until firm. •Allow sorbet to soften slightly at room temperature. Now the sorbet is ready to serve with 3 to 4 servings.

Have you ever had a white sapote? A few of them came in our CSA box and although we've tasted one before at the farmers' market, this is the first time we have had them at home.

Sapote is a name given to several different fruits; here we're talking about the white sapote (Casimiroa edulis), which is native to Mexico and Central America. In the United States, you might find this apple-sized fruit in California, Florida, and Hawaii. Underneath its green to yellow skin, the white sapote has custardy flesh that is said to range in flavor from banana to pear, peach, mango, and vanilla.

Most sapotes are picked and distributed before they are ripe. Unfortunately, we cut into this one too soon and the flesh was still firm with a bitter pear flavor. Fruit Detective David Karp says that one should let firm sapotes sit at room temperature for a couple of days until they ripen. However, they can quickly turn bad so it's important to keep a close eye on them. Sapotes can be eaten out of hand or the flesh can be scooped out and added to fruit salads, smoothies, and desserts.

We'd love to hear how others like to eat this silky fruit, as well as advice for knowing when it's perfectly ripe! [link to www.thekitchn.com]